Offshore construction firm Boskalis announce new £200k office at Port of Sunderland

Boskalis Subsea Services, which specialises in offshore contracting, marine services and dredging, has opened a new regional project office to expand the presence of its operations in the UK.

The port has undertaken a £200,000 refurbishment of Cable House, a former store and workshop built in the early 20th century, transforming it into a modern office space with open-plan office accommodation with meeting and conference facilities and a practical engineering workspace and welfare facilities.

Boskalis says it was attracted to the port because of its ‘strategic location’ on the North Sea coast and the city’s ‘skilled workforce’ which it believes will be key to attracting talent and helping it continue to grow across the UK.

Founded in 1910, the company employs over 10,000 people across six continents and as well as providing services to 90 ports in 36 countries, operates a fleet of over 700 vessels operating at any one time across the globe.

Senior project manager Richard Cawthorne said the firm had ‘significant programmes of work to execute in the Southern North Sea’ and added: “While our company is headquartered in Aberdeen, we saw that setting up a local project office in Sunderland, mobilising and demobilising our ships from here also and accessing the local supply chain was a clear benefit to our customers.

"We are delighted to be working with the local authorities to make all this happen.”

Port of Sunderland, which is owned and operated by Sunderland City Council, has seen significant investment over recent years, including £8.2million from the North East Local Enterprise Partnership which has funded works including significant improvements to the port’s road networks, the reintroduction of commercial cargo trains to the port for the first time in decades and clearing and preparing swathes of land for companies to provide the space required to attract further inward investment into the site.

As well as Boskalis, other recent new arrivals include leading fertiliser manufacturer Brineflow opening a custom-built storage and distribution hub at the port; Norwegian Government-backed energy start-up Wastefront AS unveiling plans to construct a first-of-its-kind tyre recycling facility and energy giant Quantafuel submitting plans to construct a plastic recycling plant.

City council leader Coun Graeme Miller is chair of Port of Sunderland and said he was delighted to welcome the latest addition: “Boskalis is the latest in a string of companies to relocate to the port and we’re delighted to have worked closely with the team to locate the perfect site for their new regional office,” he said.

“As a city which was once home to the world’s largest shipbuilding community, the people of Sunderland are incredibly proud of their maritime heritage, which once employed tens of thousands of people along the banks of the River Wear, and we’re absolutely delighted to see that the continued investment into the port is helping provide opportunities for the next generation of youngsters looking to explore a career in the sector.”

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